If you opened your mailbox today and found a certified envelope from a law firm citing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III + your website, breathe. The first 48 hours determine 60% of the final settlement cost. Do them well, save tens of thousands.

This article is not legal advice — talk to your counsel. It is a playbook of what experienced ADA defense attorneys typically recommend, based on three anonymized settled cases.

What an ADA demand letter actually says

A typical letter contains:

Identity of the plaintiff — a named individual with a disability (often visual impairment)
Identity of the plaintiff's law firm — a small list of firms files most cases (see ADA Lawsuit Statistics 2025)
Allegation: the plaintiff attempted to use your website on a specific date, encountered accessibility barriers, was denied equal access
Citation of specific WCAG criteria that the website allegedly failed (often 1.1.1, 1.3.1, 1.4.3, 2.1.1, 2.4.4, 4.1.2)
Demand for relief:
- Remediation of the website within a stated timeline
- Monetary settlement (often $15,000 – $75,000)
- Attorney's fees
- Sometimes a request to discuss "mutual resolution before filing in federal court"
Deadline — typically 14 to 30 days to respond

The letter is the opening offer, not the final number. About 75% of these letters resolve before formal litigation, but only if you handle the next 48 hours right.

Hour 0 to Hour 4 — DO NOT

Before anything else, three things you must not do:

1. Do not reply directly to the law firm

Anything you say can be used against you. Even a polite "we'll look into this" is a written admission that you received the letter. Save those exchanges for your lawyer to send.

2. Do not "quietly fix" the website

A common founder reaction is "let me push a fix this weekend, then deny everything." This backfires:

The plaintiff already has timestamped screenshots of the original state
Your fix may be incomplete (most rushed accessibility patches are)
Modifying evidence is poorly received by judges if it goes to court

You can and should fix the site — but not in stealth and not before your lawyer says go.

3. Do not ignore the deadline

Letters with a 14-day deadline that get no response convert to federal filings with high consistency. The "wait and see" strategy is the most expensive (see Settlement Cost Breakdown).

Hour 0 to Hour 4 — DO

1. Engage ADA defense counsel today (Hour 0)

Generic litigation lawyers will charge you to learn ADA. Specialized ADA Title III defense lawyers handle these cases every week. They know the plaintiff firms, the judges, the typical settlement ranges, and the standard remediation language.

Cost: $5,000 – $10,000 retainer for a quick settlement; $20,000+ for active defense.

2. Preserve everything (Hour 1)

Tell your engineering team:

Do NOT push any changes to production without lawyer approval
Take full screenshots and archive HTML of every page mentioned in the letter (your own evidence)
Pull logs: server access logs around the dates the plaintiff claims to have visited
Document your tech stack: CMS, hosting, accessibility tools already used

3. Run an honest accessibility audit (Hour 2 – 4)

Before settlement negotiations, you and your lawyer need to know what's actually true. The plaintiff cites criteria; some are real failures, some are exaggerated. An automated audit (like Scrutia's free 5-min scan) gives you a defensible record.

If your audit shows your site genuinely fails most of the cited criteria, your lawyer has less negotiation leverage and recommends faster settlement. If most failures are debatable, your lawyer can push back.

Run a free Scrutia audit on the cited URL →

Hour 4 to Hour 24 — Decision tree

Your lawyer will now ask you 3 questions. Your answers determine the strategy.

Q1 — How many barriers does your audit actually confirm?

Confirmed failures	Likely strategy
0 – 3 minor (color contrast, missing alt on decorative images)	Push back. Plaintiff has weak case. Counter with technical evidence.
4 – 10 (keyboard, ARIA, form labels)	Settle quickly. Plaintiff's case is solid. Negotiate down on damages.
11+ (broad accessibility failures)	Settle and commit to comprehensive remediation. Push for longer timeline.

Q2 — Are you in NY or CA jurisdiction?

Jurisdiction	Lawyer's recommendation
NY federal (EDNY/SDNY)	Settle in 30–60 days. Plaintiff bar is organized and well-funded.
CA federal + Unruh Act joined	$4K per violation hurts. Negotiate down by reducing the count of violations.
Other states	More leverage to push back; settlements often lower.
No federal filing yet	Use the time to remediate; offer remediation + minimal damages in exchange for non-filing.

Q3 — Have you been sued before?

History	Impact
First demand letter	Settle at the low end. Establish "first offender" position.
Previously settled	Plaintiff firms share lists. You'll be targeted again. Push for an audit + monitoring program that signals genuine remediation.
Currently in litigation on another case	Coordinate strategy with current counsel. Avoid contradictory positions.

Hour 24 to Hour 48 — Initial response

Your lawyer drafts the response. Three common approaches:

A. Quick settlement letter

"My client acknowledges receipt. Without admitting liability, we propose [number] in exchange for full release and confidentiality. We commit to remediation within [timeline]."

Best when: confirmed failures are real, audit score is below 60.

B. Request for specifics

"Please identify each alleged accessibility barrier with URL, time of access, and the specific WCAG criterion. We will review and respond on the merits within 30 days."

Best when: the letter is vague, audit score is above 75, you want to slow the process.

C. Counter-offer with remediation plan

"My client has commenced remediation per attached audit and project plan. We propose $X in attorney's fees + remediation per the plan. Confidentiality clause attached."

Best when: you've already run a Scrutia audit, you have a credible remediation plan, you want to control the settlement narrative.

Three settled cases (anonymized)

Case A — Mid-market e-commerce, NY federal

Demand letter received: April 2024
Site audit score (pre-fix): 54/100
Initial demand: $75,000
Settled at: $32,000 plaintiff damages + $14,000 attorney fees = $46,000
Remediation commitment: 6 months, $25,000 additional cost
Total: ~$71,000 + 4 months of dev focus

Lesson: a 60-day clean settlement saved $30K+ vs. extended negotiation.

Case B — Local restaurant chain, FL federal

Demand letter received: July 2024
Site audit score (pre-fix): 71/100
Initial demand: $40,000
Lawyer pushed back on alleged WCAG citations with audit evidence
Settled at: $12,000 plaintiff damages + $8,000 attorney fees = $20,000
Remediation: minor, ~$5,000

Total: ~$25,000. Lesson: a higher pre-existing accessibility score reduced exposure by ~60%.

Case C — SaaS B2B platform, CA federal + Unruh

Demand letter received: November 2024
Site audit score (pre-fix): 42/100
Initial demand: $120,000 (Unruh statutory damages on 30 alleged violations)
Multiple rounds of negotiation over 5 months
Settled at: $48,000 plaintiff damages + $35,000 attorney fees + $40,000 own counsel
Remediation: 9 months, ~$80,000

Total: ~$203,000. Lesson: starting from a low score in CA jurisdiction is the most expensive position; delaying settlement made it worse.

After settlement

Once signed, the work begins. You will need:

A remediation plan with stated WCAG 2.1 AA conformance
Quarterly compliance reports for 12–24 months (typical)
An audit cadence (Scrutia monitoring is one option) to detect regressions
Internal training so your team doesn't reintroduce the same issues

The single most useful step: audit before negotiating

You cannot make good negotiation decisions without knowing your real score. Free Scrutia audit takes 5 minutes and gives you:

A 0–100 score on the URLs the plaintiff cited
The exact list of WCAG 2.1 AA criteria that are actually failing
A defensible record dated to before you respond to the letter
An estimate of remediation effort

Print it. Bring it to your lawyer. Use it to negotiate from facts, not feelings.

Run my free audit before responding →

Received an ADA demand letter? Decision tree for the first 48 hours (with 3 settled cases)